Satellite communication system utilizing low density parity check codes

ABSTRACT

An approach for reliably communicating over a satellite in support of a communication service including, for example, as direct broadcast satellite and data service, is disclosed. An input message is encoded, yielding a structured Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coded message. The coded message is modulated according to a high order modulation scheme that has a signal constellation representing more than two symbols per signaling point—e.g., 8-PSK (Phase Shift Keying) and 16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation). The system includes a transmitter configured to propagate the modulated signal over the satellite. The above approach is particularly applicable to bandwidth constrained communication systems requiring high data rates.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Utility patent applicationSer. No. 12/967,894 filed Dec. 14, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S.Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/961,124 filed Oct. 8, 2004, nowissued Jan. 4, 2011 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,864,869, which is a continuationof U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/353,224 filed Jan. 28,2003, now issued Dec. 7, 2004 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,308, which isrelated to, and claims the benefit of the earlier filing date under 35U.S.C. §119(e) of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/398,760 filed Jul. 26, 2002, entitled “Code Design and ImplementationImprovements for Low Density Parity Check Codes,” U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/403,812 filed Aug. 15, 2002, entitled“Power and Bandwidth Efficient Modulation and Coding Scheme for DirectBroadcast Satellite and Broadcast Satellite Communications,” U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/421,505, filed Oct. 25, 2002,entitled “Method and System for Generating Low Density Parity CheckCodes,” U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/421,999, filedOct. 29, 2002, entitled “Satellite Communication System Utilizing LowDensity Parity Check Codes” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 60/423,710, filed Nov. 4, 2002, entitled “Code Design andImplementation Improvements for Low Density Parity Check Codes”; theentireties of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication systems, and moreparticularly to a satellite communication system utilizing a linearblock coding technique.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Satellite communication systems have emerged as a viable solution forsupporting broadband services. As such, power and bandwidth efficientmodulation and coding are highly desirable for satellite communicationssystems to provide reliable communication across noisy communicationchannels. These communication channels exhibit a fixed capacity that canbe expressed in terms of bits per second (bps) per Hz (bps/Hz) for agiven signal-to-noise ratio, defining a theoretical upper limit (knownas the Shannon limit). As a result, coding design has aimed to achieverates approaching this Shannon limit. One such class of codes thatapproach the Shannon limit is Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes.

Traditionally, LDPC codes have not been widely deployed because of anumber of drawbacks. One drawback is that the LDPC encoding technique ishighly complex. Encoding an LDPC code using its generator matrix wouldrequire storing a very large, non-sparse matrix. Additionally, LDPCcodes require large blocks to be effective; consequently, even thoughparity check matrices of LDPC codes are sparse, storing these matricesis problematic. From an implementation perspective, storage is animportant reason why LDPC codes have not become widespread in practice.A key challenge in LDPC code implementation has been how to achieve theconnection network between several processing engines (nodes) in thedecoder.

The explosive growth of broadband services has been fueled by consumers'demands for greater and greater data rates to support, for example,their multi-media applications (e.g., streaming video, web surfing,etc.). Therefore, communication service providers require aninfrastructure that can support high data rates, particularly inbandwidth-constrained systems. Higher-order modulation techniques thatcarry more than two bits per symbol, such as 8-PSK (Phase Shift Keying)and 16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), can provide more efficientbandwidth utilization. Unfortunately, conventional LDPC communicationsystems utilize a modulation scheme that carries binary or quaternarymodulation whose signal waveforms representing the information areeither binary anti-podal, or orthogonal to each other.

Therefore, there is a need for a satellite communication system thatemploys simple encoding and decoding processes, while minimizing cost.There is also a need for using LDPC codes efficiently to support highdata rates, without introducing greater complexity. There is also a needto improve power and bandwidth efficiencies in a bandwidth constrainedsystem, such as a satellite communication system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other needs are addressed by the present invention, wherein anapproach is provided for communicating over a satellite communicationsystem utilizing structured Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes inconjunction with high order modulation schemes having signalconstellations with two or more symbols represented by a signalingpoint. Structure of the LDPC codes is provided by restricting the paritycheck matrix to be lower triangular. The approach can advantageouslyexploit the unequal error protecting capability of LDPC codes ontransmitted bits to provide extra error protection to more vulnerablebits of the high order modulation schemes (such as 8-PSK (Phase ShiftKeying) and 16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation). The above approachprovides a bandwidth and power-efficient modulation techniques that arewell suited for direct broadcast satellite or broadband satellitecommunications. Depending on the overall system link parameters, theapproach can achieve high power efficiency and/or bandwidth efficiency,with simple decoding hardware, which is capable of high-speed operation.

According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, amethod for reliably communicating over a satellite in support of acommunication service is disclosed. The method includes encoding aninput message to output a structured Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)coded message. The method also includes modulating the coded messageaccording to a high order modulation scheme, and transmitting themodulated signal over the satellite.

According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, asatellite terminal for reliably communicating over a satellite insupport of a communication service is disclosed. The terminal includesan encoder configured to output a structured Low Density Parity Check(LDPC) coded message in response to an input message. The terminal alsoincludes a modulator configured to modulate the coded message accordingto a high order modulation scheme, wherein the modulated signal istransmitted over the satellite.

According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, asatellite communication system supporting a communication service isdisclosed. The system includes a first terminal configured to encode aninput message to output a structured Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)coded message, and to modulate the coded message according to a highorder modulation scheme, wherein the modulated signal is transmittedover a satellite. Also, the system includes a second terminal configuredto receive the transmitted signal via the satellite.

According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, asystem for reliably communicating over a satellite in support of acommunication service is disclosed. The system includes means forencoding an input message to output a structured Low Density ParityCheck (LDPC) coded message, and modulating the coded message accordingto a high order modulation scheme that has a signal constellationrepresenting more than two symbols per signaling point. The system alsoincludes a transmitter configured to propagate the modulated signal overthe satellite.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present inventionare readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply byillustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention. The present invention is also capable of other and differentembodiments, and its several details can be modified in various obviousrespects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are, respectively, a diagram of a communication systemconfigured to utilize Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, and adiagram of a satellite communication system capable of providing highdata rates using LDPC coding, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary transmitter in the system of FIG.1A;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary receiver in the system of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a sparse parity check matrix, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a bipartite graph of an LDPC code of the matrixof FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a sub-matrix of a sparse parity check matrix,wherein the sub-matrix contains parity check values restricted to thelower triangular region, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a graph showing performance between codes utilizingunrestricted parity check matrix (H matrix) versus restricted H matrixhaving a sub-matrix as in FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are, respectively, a diagram of a non-Gray 8-PSKmodulation scheme, and a Gray 8-PSK modulation, each of which can beused in the system of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 9 is a graph showing performance between codes utilizing Graylabeling versus non-Gray labeling;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the operation of the LDPC decoder usingnon-Gray mapping, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of the operation of the LDPC decoder of FIG. 3using Gray mapping, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A-12C are diagrams of the interactions between the check nodesand the bit nodes in a decoding process, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 13A-13C are graphs showing simulation results of LDPC codesgenerated in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams of the top edge and bottom edge,respectively, of memory organized to support structured access as torealize randomness in LDPC coding, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 is a graph of a performance comparison of LDPC coding withdifferent coding schemes; and

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a computer system that can perform the processesof encoding and decoding of LDPC codes, in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A system, method, and software for efficiently generating structured LowDensity Parity Check (LDPC) codes are described. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of thepresent invention. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the artthat the present invention may be practiced without these specificdetails or with an equivalent arrangement. In other instances,well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form inorder to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a communications system configured to utilizeLow Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. A digital communications system 100 includes atransmitter 101 that generates signal waveforms across a communicationchannel 103 to a receiver 105. In this discrete communications system100, the transmitter 101 has a message source that produces a discreteset of possible messages; each of the possible messages has acorresponding signal waveform. These signal waveforms are attenuated, orotherwise altered, by communications channel 103. To combat the noisechannel 103, LDPC codes are utilized.

The LDPC codes that are generated by the transmitter 101 enable highspeed implementation without incurring any performance loss. Thesestructured LDPC codes output from the transmitter 101 avoid assignmentof a small number of check nodes to the bit nodes already vulnerable tochannel errors by virtue of the modulation scheme (e.g., 8-PSK).

Such LDPC codes have a parallelizable decoding algorithm (unlike turbocodes), which advantageously involves simple operations such asaddition, comparison and table look-up. Moreover, carefully designedLDPC codes do not exhibit any sign of error floor.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the transmitter101 generates, using a relatively simple encoding technique, LDPC codesbased on parity check matrices (which facilitate efficient memory accessduring decoding) to communicate with the receiver 105. The transmitter101 employs LDPC codes that can outperform concatenated turbo+RS(Reed-Solomon) codes, provided the block length is sufficiently large.

FIG. 1B shows a diagram of a satellite communication system capable ofproviding high data rates using LDPC coding, according to an embodimentof the present invention. The satellite system 110 utilizes LDPC codesto support, for example, data and telephony services via a satellite111. The satellite 111 has a payload (not shown) that includes ademodulator that demodulates received signals from satellite terminals(STs) 113, 115, a switch (not shown) that forwards the demodulatedsignal to an appropriate transponder (not shown), and a modulator (notshown) that modulates the signal from switch for transmission over thetransponder (not shown). Also, the ST 103 can serve as a hub station (orNetwork Operation Center) that manages, with respect to access,security, and accounting, the communication with the STs 115.

The modulator and demodulator employ Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)codes to support high data rates by utilizing a structured LDPC schemein conjunction with a high order modulation scheme—according to oneembodiment of the present invention, the modulation scheme can 8-PSK(Phase Shift Keying) or 16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation).

The satellite system 110 can be deployed to support a number ofapplications and configurations: direct video broadcast; Very SmallAperture Satellite (VSAT) type system; and on-board processingsatellite. Under the direct video broadcast and VSAT configurations, thesatellite 111 behaves as a repeater system, while the on-boardprocessing satellite arrangement utilizes a switch in the payload toprocess traffic.

For example, in support of a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) provider,the system 110 can broadcast television programming from the hub station113, which acts as a head-end, to the satellite terminals 115, which caninclude a set-top box 117 for interfacing with a television display 119.For direct broadcast satellite or broadband satellite applications,power and bandwidth efficiency are essential. Conventionally, a numberof approaches have been developed to support the above satelliteapplications, using trellis coding or turbo trellis coding, to attemptto achieve power and bandwidth efficiencies. These coding approachesentail greater complexity. By contrast, LDPC coding can attain highpower and bandwidth efficiency without the complexity, thereby reducingcost. For very high-speed links, such as those for broadband satelliteapplications, the LDPC scheme lends itself for parallel implementationthat would otherwise be extremely difficult with the trellis coding orturbo trellis coding techniques.

In the on-board processing configuration, the switch residing in thesatellite 111 is a fast packet switch; e.g., an ATM (AsynchronousTransfer Mode) switch, a Gigabit Ethernet switch, frame relay switch,etc. Included in the payload is a processor that performs such functionsas capacity management functions and security functions.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the satellitecommunication system 110 applies power efficient LDPC codes inconjunction with high order modulation schemes for broadband satelliteapplications. High order modulation schemes support a signalconstellation that utilizes signaling points that represent more thantwo symbols per signaling point, such as 8-PSK, or 16-QAM. LDPC codescan deliver performance better than turbo trellis codes withoutnoticeable error floor at higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Accordingto one embodiment of the present invention, the LDPC codes areconcatenated with an outer Reed-Solomon (RS) outer code for even greaterthroughput. However, the LDPC does not need to be concatenated, forexample, with the RS outer code, which is generally necessary for turbocodes to meet the requirements for digital video broadcast. That is, theouter RS code can be replaced with a relatively simple code, oreliminated completely. Thus, either fewer parity symbols are needed, orthey can be eliminated from transmission. The data throughput cantypically be increased by about 5-7% as a result of this particularfeature.

Further, the LDPC decoder is considerably simpler to implement than aturbo decoder at higher code rates. LDPC decoder also has a highlyparallizable architecture, which lends itself for high-speed operation.

The encoding process is first described below with respect to FIG. 2,and the LDPC decoder is explained in FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary transmitter in the system of FIG.1A. A transmitter 200 is equipped with an LDPC encoder 203 that acceptsinput from an information source 201 and outputs coded stream of higherredundancy suitable for error correction processing at the receiver 105.The information source 201 generates k signals from a discrete alphabet,X. LDPC codes are specified with parity check matrices. On the otherhand, encoding LDPC codes require, in general, specifying the generatormatrices. Even though it is possible to obtain generator matrices fromparity check matrices using Gaussian elimination, the resulting matrixis no longer sparse and storing a large generator matrix can be complex.

Encoder 203 generates signals from alphabet Y to a modulator 205 using asimple encoding technique that makes use of only the parity check matrixby imposing structure onto the parity check matrix. Specifically, arestriction is placed on the parity check matrix by constraining certainportion of the matrix to be triangular. The construction of such aparity check matrix is described more fully below in FIG. 6. Such arestriction results in negligible performance loss, and therefore,constitutes an attractive trade-off.

Modulator 205 maps the encoded messages from encoder 203 to signalwaveforms that are transmitted to a transmit antenna 207, which emitsthese waveforms over the communication channel 103. Accordingly, theencoded messages are modulated and distributed to a transmit antenna207. The transmissions from the transmit antenna 207 propagate to areceiver, as discussed below.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary receiver in the system of FIG. 1A.At the receiving side, a receiver 300 includes a demodulator 301 thatperforms demodulation of received signals from transmitter 200. Thesesignals are received at a receive antenna 303 for demodulation. Afterdemodulation, the received signals are forwarded to a decoder 305, whichattempts to reconstruct the original source messages by generatingmessages, X, in conjunction with a bit metric generator 307. Withnon-Gray mapping, the bit metric generator 307 exchanges probabilityinformation with the decoder 305 back and forth (iteratively) during thedecoding process, which is detailed in FIG. 10. Alternatively, if Graymapping is used (according to one embodiment of the present invention),one pass of the bit metric generator is sufficient, in which furtherattempts of bit metric generation after each LDPC decoder iteration arelikely to yield limited performance improvement; this approach is morefully described with respect to FIG. 11. To appreciate the advantagesoffered by the present invention, it is instructive to examine how LDPCcodes are generated, as discussed in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a sparse parity check matrix, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. LDPC codes are long, linearblock codes with sparse parity check matrix H_((n-k)xn). Typically theblock length, n, ranges from thousands to tens of thousands of bits. Forexample, a parity check matrix for an LDPC code of length n=8 and rate ½is shown in FIG. 4. The same code can be equivalently represented by thebipartite graph, per FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a bipartite graph of an LDPC code of the matrixof FIG. 4. Parity check equations imply that for each check node, thesum (over GF (Galois Field)(2)) of all adjacent bit nodes is equal tozero. As seen in the figure, bit nodes occupy the left side of the graphand are associated with one or more check nodes, according to apredetermined relationship. For example, corresponding to check node m₁,the following expression exists n₁+n₄+n₅+n₈=0 with respect to the bitnodes.

Returning the receiver 303, the LDPC decoder 305 is considered a messagepassing decoder, whereby the decoder 305 aims to find the values of bitnodes. To accomplish this task, bit nodes and check nodes iterativelycommunicate with each other. The nature of this communication isdescribed below.

From check nodes to bit nodes, each check node provides to an adjacentbit node an estimate (“opinion”) regarding the value of that bit nodebased on the information coming from other adjacent bit nodes. Forinstance, in the above example if the sum of n₄, n₅ and n₈ “looks like”0 to m₁, then m₁ would indicate to n₁ that the value of n₁ is believedto be 0 (since n₁+n₄+n₅+n₈=0); otherwise m₁ indicate to n₁ that thevalue of n₁ is believed to be 1. Additionally, for soft decisiondecoding, a reliability measure is added.

From bit nodes to check nodes, each bit node relays to an adjacent checknode an estimate about its own value based on the feedback coming fromits other adjacent check nodes. In the above example n₁ has only twoadjacent check nodes m₁ and m₃. If the feedback coming from m₃ to n₁indicates that the value of n₁ is probably 0, then n₁ would notify m₁that an estimate of n₁'s own value is 0. For the case in which the bitnode has more than two adjacent check nodes, the bit node performs amajority vote (soft decision) on the feedback coming from its otheradjacent check nodes before reporting that decision to the check node itcommunicates. The above process is repeated until all bit nodes areconsidered to be correct (i.e., all parity check equations aresatisfied) or until a predetermined maximum number of iterations isreached, whereby a decoding failure is declared.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a sub-matrix of a sparse parity check matrix,wherein the sub-matrix contains parity check values restricted to thelower triangular region, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As described previously, the encoder 203 (of FIG. 2) canemploy a simple encoding technique by restricting the values of thelower triangular area of the parity check matrix. According to anembodiment of the present invention, the restriction imposed on theparity check matrix is of the form:

H _((n-k)xn) =[A _((n-k)xk) B _((n-k)x(n-k))],

, where B is lower triangular.

Any information block i=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(k-1)) is encoded to acodeword c=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(k-1), p₀, p₁, . . . , p_(n-k-1)) usingHc^(T)=0, and recursively solving for parity bits; for example,

a ₀₀ i ₀ +a ₀₁ i ₁ + . . . +a _(0,k-1) i _(k-1) +p ₀=0

Solve p ₀,

a ₁₀ i ₀ +a ₁₁ i ₁ + . . . +a _(1,k-1) i _(k-1) +b ₁₀ p ₀ +p ₁=0

Solve p ₁

-   -   and similarly for p₂, p₃, . . . , p_(n-k-1).

FIG. 7 is a graph showing performance between codes utilizingunrestricted parity check matrix (H matrix) versus restricted H matrixof FIG. 6. The graph shows the performance comparison between two LDPCcodes: one with a general parity check matrix and the other with aparity check matrix restricted to be lower triangular to simplifyencoding. The modulation scheme, for this simulation, is 8-PSK. Theperformance loss is within 0.1 dB. Therefore, the performance loss isnegligible based on the restriction of the lower triangular H matrices,while the gain in simplicity of the encoding technique is significant.Accordingly, any parity check matrix that is equivalent to a lowertriangular or upper triangular under row and/or column permutation canbe utilized for the same purpose.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are, respectively, a diagram of a non-Gray 8-PSKmodulation scheme, and a Gray 8-PSK modulation, each of which can beused in the system of FIG. 1A. The non-Gray 8-PSK scheme of FIG. 8A canbe utilized in the receiver of FIG. 3 to provide a system that requiresvery low Frame Erasure Rate (FER). This requirement can also besatisfied by using a Gray 8-PSK scheme, as shown in FIG. 8B, inconjunction with an outer code, such as Bose, Chaudhuri, and Hocquenghem(BCH), Hamming, or Reed-Solomon (RS) code.

Alternatively, the Gray 8-PSK scheme of FIG. 8B can be implemented withan outer code. Under this scheme, there is no need to iterate betweenthe LDPC decoder 305 (FIG. 3) and the bit metric generator 307, whichmay employ 8-PSK modulation. In the absence of an outer code, the LDPCdecoder 305 using Gray labeling exhibit an earlier error floor, as shownin FIG. 9 below.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing performance between codes utilizing Graylabeling versus non-Gray labeling of FIGS. 8A and 8B. The error floorstems from the fact that assuming correct feedback from LDPC decoder305, regeneration of 8-PSK bit metrics is more accurate with non-Graylabeling since the two 8-PSK symbols with known two bits are furtherapart with non-Gray labeling. This can be equivalently seen as operatingat higher Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Therefore, even though errorasymptotes of the same LDPC code using Gray or non-Gray labeling havethe same slope (i.e., parallel to each other), the one with non-Graylabeling passes through lower FER at any SNR.

On the other hand, for systems that do not require very low FER, Graylabeling without any iteration between LDPC decoder 305 and 8-PSK bitmetric generator 307 may be more suitable because re-generating 8-PSKbit metrics before every LDPC decoder iteration causes additionalcomplexity. Moreover, when Gray labeling is used, re-generating 8-PSKbit metrics before every LDPC decoder iteration yields only very slightperformance improvement. As mentioned previously, Gray labeling withoutiteration may be used for systems that require very low FER, provided anouter code is implemented.

The choice between Gray labeling and non-Gray labeling depends also onthe characteristics of the LDPC code. Typically, the higher bit or checknode degrees, the better it is for Gray labeling, because for highernode degrees, the initial feedback from LDPC decoder 305 to 8-PSK (orsimilar higher order modulation) bit metric generator 307 deterioratesmore with non-Gray labeling.

When 8-PSK (or similar higher order) modulation is utilized with abinary decoder, it is recognized that the three (or more) bits of asymbol are not received “equally noisy”. For example with Gray 8-PSKlabeling, the third bit of a symbol is considered more noisy to thedecoder than the other two bits. Therefore, the LDPC code design doesnot assign a small number of edges to those bit nodes represented by“more noisy” third bits of 8-PSK symbol so that those bits are notpenalized twice.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the operation of the LDPC decoder usingnon-Gray mapping, according to an embodiment of the present invention.Under this approach, the LDPC decoder and bit metric generator iterateone after the other. In this example, 8-PSK modulation is utilized;however, the same principles apply to other higher modulation schemes aswell. Under this scenario, it is assumed that the demodulator 301outputs a distance vector, d, denoting the distances between receivednoisy symbol points and 8-PSK symbol points to the bit metric generator307, whereby the vector components are as follows:

$d_{i} = {{- \frac{E_{s}}{N_{0}}}\left\{ {\left( {r_{x} - s_{i,x}} \right)^{2} + \left( {r_{y} - s_{i,y}} \right)^{2}} \right\}}$i = 0, 1, …  7.

The 8-PSK bit metric generator 307 communicates with the LDPC decoder305 to exchange a priori probability information and a posterioriprobability information, which respectively are represented as u, and a.That is, the vectors u and a respectively represent a priori and aposteriori probabilities of log likelihood ratios of coded bits.

The 8-PSK bit metric generator 307 generates the a priori likelihoodratios for each group of three bits as follows. First, extrinsicinformation on coded bits is obtained:

e _(j) =a _(j) −u _(j) j=0,1,2.

Next, 8-PSK symbol probabilities, p_(i) i=0, 1, . . . , 7, aredetermined.

*y _(j)=−ƒ(0,e _(j)) j=0,1,2 where ƒ(a,b)=max(a,b)+LUT _(ƒ)(a,b) withLUT _(ƒ)(a,b)=ln(1+e ^(−|a-b|))

*x _(j) =y _(j) +e _(j) j=0,1,2

*p ₀ =x ₀ +x ₁ +x ₂ p ₄ =y ₀ x ₁ +x ₂

p ₁ =x ₀ +x ₁ +y ₂ p ₅ =y ₀ +x ₁ +y ₂

p ₂ =x ₀ +y ₁ +x ₂ p ₆ =y ₀ +y ₁ +x ₂

p ₃ =x ₀ +y ₁ +y ₂ p ₇ =y ₀ +y ₁ +y ₂

Next, the bit metric generator 307 determines a priori log likelihoodratios of the coded bits as input to LDPC decoder 305, as follows:

u ₀=ƒ(d ₀ +p ₀ ,d ₁ +p ₁ ,d ₂ +p ₂ ,d ₃ +p ₃)−ƒ(d ₄ +p ₄ ,d ₅ +p ₅ ,d ₆+p ₆ ,d ₇ +p ₇)−e ₀

u ₁=ƒ(d ₀ +p ₀ ,d ₁ +p ₁ ,d ₄ +p ₄ ,d ₅ +p ₅)−ƒ(d ₂ +p ₂ ,d ₃ +p ₃ ,d ₆+p ₆ ,d ₇ +p ₇)−e ₁

u ₂=ƒ(d ₀ +p ₀ ,d ₂ +p ₂ ,d ₄ +p ₄ ,d ₆ +p ₆)−ƒ(d ₁ +p ₁ ,d ₃ +p ₃ ,d ₅+p ₅ ,d ₇ +p ₇)−e ₂

It is noted that the function ƒ(•) with more than two variables can beevaluated recursively; e.g. ƒ(a,b,c)=ƒ(ƒ(a,b),c).

The operation of the LDPC decoder 305 utilizing non-Gray mapping is nowdescribed. In step 1001, the LDPC decoder 305 initializes log likelihoodratios of coded bits, v, before the first iteration according to thefollowing (and as shown in FIG. 12A):

v _(n→k) _(i) =u _(n) , n=0, 1, . . . , N−1, i=1, 2, . . . , deg(bitnode n)

Here, v_(n→k) _(i) denotes the message that goes from bit node n to itsadjacent check node k_(i), u_(n) denotes the demodulator output for thebit n and N is the codeword size.

In step 1003, a check node, k, is updated, whereby the input v yieldsthe output w. As seen in FIG. 12B, the incoming messages to the checknode k from its d_(c) adjacent bit nodes are denoted by v_(n) ₁ _(→k),v_(n) ₂ _(→k), . . . , v_(n) _(dc) _(→k). The goal is to compute theoutgoing messages from the check node k back to d_(c) adjacent bitnodes. These messages are denoted by w_(k→n) ₁ , w_(k→n) ₂ , . . . ,w_(k→n) _(dc) , where

w _(k→n) _(i) =g(v _(n) ₁ _(→k) , v _(n) ₂ _(→k) , . . . , v _(n) _(i−1)_(→k) , v _(n) _(i+1) _(→k) , . . . , v _(n) _(dc) _(→k)).

The function g( ) is defined as follows:

g(a,b)=sign(a)×sign(b)×{min(|a|,|b|)}+LUT _(g)(a,b),

where LUT_(g)(a,b)=ln(1+e^(−|a+b|))−ln(1+e^(−|a−b|)). Similar tofunction ƒ, function g with more than two variables can be evaluatedrecursively.

Next, the decoder 305, per step 1205, outputs a posteriori probabilityinformation (FIG. 12C), such that:

$a_{n} = {u_{n} + {\sum\limits_{j}\; w_{k_{j}\rightarrow n}}}$

Per step 1007, it is determined whether all the parity check equationsare satisfied. If these parity check equations are not satisfied, thenthe decoder 305, as in step 1009, re-derives 8-PSK bit metrics andchannel input u_(n). Next, the bit node is updated, as in step 1011. Asshown in FIG. 13C, the incoming messages to the bit node n from itsd_(v) adjacent check nodes are denoted by w_(k) ₁ _(→n), w_(k) ₂ _(→n),. . . , w_(k) _(dv) _(→n) The outgoing messages from the bit node n arecomputed back to d_(v) adjacent check nodes; such messages are denotedby v_(n→k) ₁ , v_(n→k) ₂ , . . . , v_(n→k) _(dv) , and computed asfollows:

$v_{n\rightarrow k_{i}} = {u_{n} + {\sum\limits_{j \neq i}\; w_{k_{j}\rightarrow n}}}$

In step 1013, the decoder 305 outputs the hard decision (in the casethat all parity check equations are satisfied):

${\hat{c}}_{n} = \left\{ {{\begin{matrix}{0,} & {a_{n} \geq 0} \\{1,} & {a_{n} < 0}\end{matrix}{Stop}\mspace{14mu} {if}\mspace{14mu} H{\hat{c}}^{T}} = 0} \right.$

The above approach is appropriate when non-Gray labeling is utilized.However, when Gray labeling is implemented, the process of FIG. 11 isexecuted.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of the operation of the LDPC decoder of FIG. 3using Gray mapping, according to an embodiment of the present invention.When Gray labeling is used, bit metrics are advantageously generatedonly once before the LDPC decoder, as re-generating bit metrics afterevery LDPC decoder iteration may yield nominal performance improvement.As with steps 1001 and 1003 of FIG. 10, initialization of the loglikelihood ratios of coded bits, v, are performed, and the check node isupdated, per steps 1101 and 1103. Next, the bit node n is updated, as instep 1105. Thereafter, the decoder outputs the a posteriori probabilityinformation (step 1107). In step 1109, a determination is made whetherall of the parity check equations are satisfied; if so, the decoderoutputs the hard decision (step 1111). Otherwise, steps 1103-1107 arerepeated.

FIGS. 13A-13C are graphs showing simulation results of LDPC codesgenerated in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention. In particular, FIGS. 13A-13C show the performance of LDPCcodes with higher order modulation and code rates of ¾ (QPSK, 1.485bits/symbol), ⅔ (8-PSK, 1.980 bits/symbol), and ⅚ (8-PSK, 2.474bits/symbol).

Two general approaches exist to realize the interconnections betweencheck nodes and bit nodes: (1) a fully parallel approach, and (2) apartially parallel approach. In fully parallel architecture, all of thenodes and their interconnections are physically implemented. Theadvantage of this architecture is speed.

The fully parallel architecture, however, may involve greater complexityin realizing all of the nodes and their connections. Therefore withfully parallel architecture, a smaller block size may be required toreduce the complexity. In that case, for the same clock frequency, aproportional reduction in throughput and some degradation in FER versusEs/No performance may result.

The second approach to implementing LDPC codes is to physically realizeonly a subset of the total number of the nodes and to use only thislimited number of “physical” nodes to process all of the “functional”nodes of the code. Even though the LDPC decoder operations can be madeextremely simple and can be performed in parallel, the further challengein the design is how the communication is established between “randomly”distributed bit nodes and check nodes. The decoder 305, of FIG. 3,according to one embodiment of the present invention, addresses thisproblem by accessing memory in a structured way, as to realize aseemingly random code. This approach is explained with respect to FIGS.14A and 14B.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams of the top edge and bottom edge,respectively, of memory organized to support structured access as torealize randomness in LDPC coding, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Structured access can be achieved withoutcompromising the performance of a truly random code by focusing on thegeneration of the parity check matrix. In general, a parity check matrixcan be specified by the connections of the check nodes with the bitnodes. For example, the bit nodes are divided into groups of 392 (392 isprovided for the purposes of illustration). Additionally, assuming thecheck nodes connected to the first bit node of degree 3, for instance,are numbered as a, b and c, then the check nodes connected to the secondbit node are numbered as a+p, b+p and c+p, the check nodes connected tothe third bit node are numbered as a+2p, b+2p and c+2p etc. For the nextgroup of 392 bit nodes, the check nodes connected to the first bit nodeare different from a, b, c so that with a suitable choice of p, all thecheck nodes have the same degree. A random search is performed over thefree constants such that the resulting LDPC code is cycle-4 and cycle-6free.

The above arrangement facilitates memory access during check node andbit node processing. The values of the edges in the bipartite graph canbe stored in a storage medium, such as random access memory (RAM). It isnoted that for a truly random LDPC code during check node and bit nodeprocessing, the values of the edges would need to be accessed one by onein a random fashion. However, such an access scheme would be too slowfor a high data rate application. The RAM of FIGS. 14A and 14B areorganized in a manner, whereby a large group of relevant edges in oneclock cycle; accordingly, these values are placed “together” in memory.It is observed that, in actuality, even with a truly random code, for agroup of check nodes (and respectively bit nodes), the relevant edgescan be placed next to one another in RAM, but then the relevant edgesadjacent to a group of bit nodes (respectively check nodes) will berandomly scattered in RAM. Therefore, the “togetherness,” under thepresent invention, stems from the design of the parity check matricesthemselves. That is, the check matrix design ensures that the relevantedges for a group of bit nodes and check nodes are simultaneously placedtogether in RAM.

As seen in FIGS. 14A and 14B, each box contains the value of an edge,which is multiple bits (e.g., 6). Edge RAM, according to one embodimentof the present invention, is divided into two parts: top edge RAM (FIG.14A) and bottom edge RAM (FIG. 14B). Bottom edge RAM contains the edgesbetween bit nodes of degree 2, for example, and check nodes. Top edgeRAM contains the edges between bit nodes of degree greater than 2 andcheck nodes. Therefore, for every check node, 2 adjacent edges arestored in the bottom RAM, and the rest of the edges are stored in thetop edge RAM.

Continuing with the above example, a group of 392 bit nodes and 392check nodes are selected for processing at a time. For 392 check nodeprocessing, q consecutive rows are accessed from the top edge RAM, and 2consecutive rows from the bottom edge RAM. In this instance, q+2 is thedegree of each check node. For bit node processing, if the group of 392bit nodes has degree 2, their edges are located in 2 consecutive rows ofthe bottom edge RAM. If the bit nodes have degree d>2, their edges arelocated in some d rows of the top edge RAM. The address of these d rowscan be stored in non-volatile memory, such as Read-Only Memory (ROM).The edges in one of the rows correspond to the first edges of 392 bitnodes, the edges in another row correspond to the second edges of 392bit nodes, etc. Moreover for each row, the column index of the edge thatbelongs to the first bit node in the group of 392 can also be stored inROM. The edges that correspond to the second, third, etc. bit nodesfollow the starting column index in a “wrapped around” fashion. Forexample, if the j^(th) edge in the row belongs to the first bit node,then the (j+1)st edge belongs to the second bit node, (j+2)nd edgebelongs to the third bit node, . . . , and (j−1)st edge belongs to the392^(th) bit node.

With the above organization (shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B), speed ofmemory access is greatly enhanced during LDPC coding. Further, theperformance advantages of LDPC codes are more evident in the code designcomparison chart of FIG. 15.

FIG. 15 is a graph of a performance comparison of LDPC coding withdifferent coding schemes. Specifically, the graph shows a Bit Error Rate(BER) performance of two rate ⅚ LDPC codes and a rate ⅚ turbo trelliscode concatenated with a Reed-Solomon outer code, all in conjunctionwith 8-PSK modulation. It can be seen that both LDPC codes outperformthe turbo code concatenated with Reed-Solomon outer code. Not only canthe LDPC code be operated at lower Es/No, but also provides, forexample, more than 3 Mbps of additional throughput for a 27 MHztransponder.

As discussed previously, the decoding complexity of LDPC codesadvantageously does not increase with the length of the code. Thisproperty allows the use of very long codes for better performance, untilsuch return is diminished. From a practical standpoint, longer codes dorequire larger buffer and do introduce longer delay. But, with drasticimprovements in memory technology, buffer on the order of hundreds ofkilobits and its associated delay are irrelevant, particularly, for ahigh-speed digital video broadcast or any broadband satellite link.

While the rate ⅚ LDPC codes shown above are intended for spot-beamapplications with satellite Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP)higher than traditional CONUS (Continental United States) beams, thealgorithm to generate, as detailed with respect to FIG. 15, LDPC codesof any code rate and any length systematically without much compromisein performance. Good candidates for CONUS beams are rate ¾ codes thatyield 2.25 bits/symbol and rate ⅔ codes that yield 2 bits/symbol. It isnoted that LDPC codes can support multiple data rates using a commondecoding architecture; in contrast, convolutional codes, for example,require puncturing techniques to achieve intermediate rates.

As evident from FIG. 15, depending on the overall system linkparameters, LDPC coding can achieve better power efficiency and/orbandwidth efficiency than other coding schemes, with considerablysimpler decoding hardware. With properly designed LDPC codes anddecoding algorithm, the decoder 305 is capable of very high-speedoperation far exceeding other conventional systems with standard digitallogic circuitry.

FIG. 16 illustrates a computer system 1600 upon which an embodimentaccording to the present invention can be implemented. The computersystem 1600 includes a bus 1601 or other communication mechanism forcommunicating information, and a processor 1603 coupled to the bus 1601for processing information. The computer system 1600 also includes mainmemory 1605, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamicstorage device, coupled to the bus 1601 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processor 1603. Main memory 1605 canalso be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions to be executed by theprocessor 1603. The computer system 1600 further includes a read onlymemory (ROM) 1607 or other static storage device coupled to the bus 1601for storing static information and instructions for the processor 1603.A storage device 1609, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, isadditionally coupled to the bus 1601 for storing information andinstructions.

The computer system 1600 may be coupled via the bus 1601 to a display1611, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display, activematrix display, or plasma display, for displaying information to acomputer user. An input device 1613, such as a keyboard includingalphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to the bus 1601 forcommunicating information and command selections to the processor 1603.Another type of user input device is cursor control 1615, such as amouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating directioninformation and command selections to the processor 1603 and forcontrolling cursor movement on the display 1611.

According to one embodiment of the invention, generation of LDPC codesis provided by the computer system 1600 in response to the processor1603 executing an arrangement of instructions contained in main memory1605. Such instructions can be read into main memory 1605 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as the storage device 1609. Execution ofthe arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 1605 causes theprocessor 1603 to perform the process steps described herein. One ormore processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employedto execute the instructions contained in main memory 1605. Inalternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of orin combination with software instructions to implement the embodiment ofthe present invention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention arenot limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry andsoftware.

The computer system 1600 also includes a communication interface 1617coupled to bus 1601. The communication interface 1617 provides a two-waydata communication coupling to a network link 1619 connected to a localnetwork 1621. For example, the communication interface 1617 may be adigital subscriber line (DSL) card or modem, an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) card, a cable modem, or a telephone modem toprovide a data communication connection to a corresponding type oftelephone line. As another example, communication interface 1617 may bea local area network (LAN) card (e.g. for Ethernet™ or an AsynchronousTransfer Model (ATM) network) to provide a data communication connectionto a compatible LAN. Wireless links can also be implemented. In any suchimplementation, communication interface 1617 sends and receiveselectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital datastreams representing various types of information. Further, thecommunication interface 1617 can include peripheral interface devices,such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a PCMCIA (PersonalComputer Memory Card International Association) interface, etc.

The network link 1619 typically provides data communication through oneor more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link1619 may provide a connection through local network 1621 to a hostcomputer 1623, which has connectivity to a network 1625 (e.g. a widearea network (WAN) or the global packet data communication network nowcommonly referred to as the “Internet”) or to data equipment operated byservice provider. The local network 1621 and network 1625 both useelectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals to convey informationand instructions. The signals through the various networks and thesignals on network link 1619 and through communication interface 1617,which communicate digital data with computer system 1600, are exemplaryforms of carrier waves bearing the information and instructions.

The computer system 1600 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network(s), network link 1619, andcommunication interface 1617. In the Internet example, a server (notshown) might transmit requested code belonging to an application programfor implementing an embodiment of the present invention through thenetwork 1625, local network 1621 and communication interface 1617. Theprocessor 1603 may execute the transmitted code while being receivedand/or store the code in storage device 169, or other non-volatilestorage for later execution. In this manner, computer system 1600 mayobtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to the processor 1603 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, suchas storage device 1609. Volatile media include dynamic memory, such asmain memory 1605. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wireand fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 1601.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic, optical, orelectromagnetic waves, such as those generated during radio frequency(RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms ofcomputer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexibledisk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM,CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, opticalmark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or otheroptically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in providinginstructions to a processor for execution. For example, the instructionsfor carrying out at least part of the present invention may initially beborne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. In such a scenario, theremote computer loads the instructions into main memory and sends theinstructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem of a localcomputer system receives the data on the telephone line and uses aninfrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal andtransmit the infrared signal to a portable computing device, such as apersonal digital assistance (PDA) and a laptop. An infrared detector onthe portable computing device receives the information and instructionsborne by the infrared signal and places the data on a bus. The busconveys the data to main memory, from which a processor retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory mayoptionally be stored on storage device either before or after executionby processor.

Accordingly, the various embodiments of the present invention provide anapproach for generating structured Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)codes, as to simplify the encoder and decoder. Structure of the LDPCcodes is provided by restricting the parity check matrix to be lowertriangular. Also, the approach can advantageously exploit the unequalerror protecting capability of LDPC codes on transmitted bits to provideextra error protection to more vulnerable bits of high order modulationconstellations (such as 8-PSK (Phase Shift Keying)). Additionally, theparity check matrix can be algorithmically generated using pre-storedconstants and bitwise operations. Efficient decoding of the LDPC can beachieved by storing information representing consecutive edges from thecheck nodes to the bit nodes of the parity check matrix in consecutiveslots of memory. The above approach advantageously yields reducedcomplexity without sacrificing performance.

While the present invention has been described in connection with anumber of embodiments and implementations, the present invention is notso limited but covers various obvious modifications and equivalentarrangements, which fall within the purview of the appended claims.

1. A method comprising: receiving a block of k data bits; and encodingthe block of data bits using a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codehaving a corresponding parity check matrix of the form[A_((n-k)xn)B_((n-k)x(n-k))] wherein the submatrix B is lower triangularand wherein the LDPC code is configured to enable structured access toedge values in a decoding process.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theLDPC code is configured to enable simultaneous retrieval of relevantedge values corresponding to a group of bit nodes or a group of checknodes from a memory in the decoding process.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the decoding process is a partially parallel decoding process.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the LDPC code is configured to enablenon-random storage of edge values in the decoding process.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the LDPC code is cycle-4 and cycle-6 free.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising generating a radio signal from theencoded block of data bits.
 7. An apparatus comprising: an encodercircuit configured to receiving a block of k data bits and to encode theblock of data bits using a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code having acorresponding parity check matrix of the form[A_((n-k)xn)B_((n-k)x(n-k))] wherein the submatrix B is lower triangularand wherein the LDPC code is configured to enable structured access toedge values in a decoding process.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, whereinthe LDPC code is configured to enable simultaneous retrieval of relevantedge values corresponding to a group of bit nodes or a group of checknodes from a memory in the decoding process.
 9. The apparatus of claim7, wherein the decoding process is a partially parallel decodingprocess.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the LDPC code isconfigured to enable non-random storage of edge values in the decodingprocess.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the LDPC code is cycle-4and cycle-6 free.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising aradio communications circuit configured to generate a radio signal fromthe encoded block of data bits.
 13. An apparatus comprising: a radiocommunications circuit configured to receive a radio communicationssignal; and a decoder circuit configured to decode the received radiocommunications signal according to a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)code to recover an encoded block of k data bits therein, wherein theLDPC code has a corresponding parity check matrix of the form[A_((n-k)xn)B_((n-k)x(n-k))] wherein the submatrix B is lower triangularand wherein the LDPC code is configured to enable structured access toedge values in a decoding process.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the LDPC code is configured to enable simultaneous retrieval ofrelevant edge values corresponding to a group of bit nodes or a group ofcheck nodes from a memory in the decoding process.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein the decoding process is a partially parallel decodingprocess.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the LDPC code isconfigured to enable non-random storage of edge values in the decodingprocess.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the LDPC code is cycle-4and cycle-6 free.
 18. A method comprising: receiving a radiocommunications signal; and decoding the received radio communicationssignal according to a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code to recover anencoded block of k data bits therein, wherein the LDPC code has acorresponding parity check matrix of the form[A_((n-k)xn)B_((n-k)x(n-k))] wherein the submatrix B is lower triangularand wherein the LDPC code is configured to enable structured access toedge values in a decoding process.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinthe LDPC code is configured to enable simultaneous retrieval of relevantedge values corresponding to a group of bit nodes or a group of checknodes from a memory in the decoding process.
 20. The method of claim 18,wherein the decoding process is a partially parallel decoding process.21. The method of claim 18, wherein the LDPC code is configured toenable non-random storage of edge values in the decoding process. 22.The method of claim 18, wherein the LDPC code is cycle-4 and cycle-6free.